UTSA honors Derrick Gervin at 3 p.m., Friday

(Feb. 28, 2006)--There are two basketball players named Gervin who have left their mark on the San Antonio basketball community. One is George, the Hall of Fame "Iceman" from the San Antonio Spurs. The other is little brother Derrick, the second leading scorer in the history of UTSA men's basketball.

UTSA will recognize Derrick Gervin at 3 p.m., Friday during halftime of the Southland Conference men's basketball game with Northwestern State. At the game, Gervin's jersey will be retired. Friday's game will determine whether or not UTSA goes to the Southland Conference finals.

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UTSA President Ricardo Romo has declared Friday as Blue and Orange Day in honor of Gervin. The UTSA community and friends are encouraged to wear their UTSA colors Friday.

Faculty and staff will be admitted free to the game with a UTSACard. With supervisor approval, faculty and staff members will be allowed to use vacation or compensatory time to attend the game.

Gervin will join Devin Brown as the only UTSA basketball players to have their jerseys retired. Brown, the former Spur now with the Utah Jazz, broke Gervin's all-time Roadrunner scoring record in 2002.

In only three seasons with the Roadrunners, Gervin scored 1,691 points, averaging 21.1 points per game--tops in UTSA history. In his final season (1984-85) before declaring himself eligible for the NBA draft, Gervin averaged 25.6 points per game--tops in UTSA history.

The Detroit native spent two seasons in the NBA--1985 with the Philadelphia 76ers and 1999 with the New Jersey Nets. In between he spent more than 10 seasons playing professional basketball overseas. Gervin and his wife Victoria currently make their home in San Antonio where he works with youth groups.

For ticket information regarding Friday afternoon's UTSA vs. Northwestern State game, call the UTSA Ticket Office at (210) 458-8872. Two Class 5A University Interscholastic League regional semi-final games will follow at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Individual UIL game tickets are available at the UTSA Ticket Office the day of the game only.